Google has once again delved through its billions of annual search queries to put together its year-end Zeitgeist, highlighting the most popular trends of the past twelve months.
Unsurprisingly, late entertainer Michael Jackson has become the world's fastest rising search query, edging out hugely-popular social networking websites Facebook (#2) and Twitter (#4).
Apple's iPhone has dominated the list in terms of technology in recent years, but is now nowhere to be seen. Arguably the year's biggest release - Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system - ranks at #8 in Google's global list of fastest rising queries.
Swine Flu tops the year's hottest news searches, whilst in the U.S., Lady Gaga is the only living celebrity to feature in the year's top ten American searches.
Here in the UK, celebrities dominate the news searches whilst Facebook cements its position as the single most popular search query. Google's UK overview is detailed as follows:
| Fastest Rising | Most Popular | Hottest news searches |
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| Bargain hunting (top cheap searches) | Hottest tickets | I feel... |
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Want to know what other countries have been Googling for this year? Head on over to the official 2009 Google Zeitgeist website
